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tease

Pronunciation: /tiːz/

The English word “tease” has 12 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To separate the fibres of (a fibrous material).
  2. To comb (originally with teasels) so that the fibres all lie in one direction.
  3. To backcomb.
  4. To poke fun at, either cruelly or affectionately in a playful way.
  5. To provoke or disturb; to annoy.
  6. To manipulate or influence the behavior of, especially by repeated acts of irritation.
  7. To entice, tempt.
  8. To deliberately arouse someone sexually with no intention of satisfying that arousal.
  9. To show as forthcoming, in the manner of a teaser.

noun

  1. One who teases.
  2. A single act of teasing.
  3. One who deliberately arouses others (usually men) sexually with no intention of satisfying that arousal.

Etymology

From Middle English tesen, from Old English tǣsan (“to tease”), from Proto-West Germanic *taisijan (“to separate, tug, shred”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.